In nature, eutrophication is the result of artificial or natural substances into an aquatic system that results in a bloom of phytoplankton in a body of water. This bloom sucks the oxygen out of the water and kills off fish and other species making the body of water uninhabitable.

Consider the following headlines:

Americans on food stamps reaches all time high – Huffington Post
Record Number of Americans on Unemployment – CNN
Record Number in Government Anti-poverty programs – USAToday
Medicaid Now Covers a Record Number of Americans – Philly.com

America is blooming. Unfortunately, the bloom of debt now more than $15 trillion is slowly sucking whatever oxygen is left keeping the United States alive. The CATO Institute recently released the following alarming figures:

126 anti-poverty programs in the United States
$1 trillion spent on entitlements a year
41 percent increase in welfare spending in the last three years

According to the government’s own website, USGS.gov, “eutrophication is a natural, slow-aging process for a water body…” Eutrophication is a process whereby a body of water acquires a high concentration of nutrients, like phosphates and nitrates, causing this growth of algae. Ironically, the USGS added this to its definition “…but human activity greatly speeds up the process.”

By many respects government handouts are a form of nutrients via human activity. Welfare, food stamps, Medicaid and any one of the 126 programs designed to give life to the poor is nutrition. On the surface, a lake full of nutrients seems like a good thing but too much of a good thing clearly his fatal consequences for other organisms like fish, the natural inhabitants of the lake. And, on the surface, government handouts seem like a good thing too. But just like algae, the higher concentration of financial nutrients that are available the bigger the bloom suffocating that out which keeps the lake, or in this case, a country full of life.

In America, government has not only replaced God as a source of nutrition but also the family. It’s interesting to note, according to the USGS, that eutrophication is particularly evident in slow-moving rivers and shallow lakes. In a slow moving and shallow economy it seems as though government is the go-to for nutrition. To save the lake, the only way to reduce eutrophication is to remove the influx of nutrients.

Consider these statistics aired on NRB Network and see what they all have in common:

Fatherless homes. That’s the link. In fact, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a report on the importance of married two-parent families in 2006. Even the government recognizes how important the role of the father is but with 126 anti-poverty programs there really is no reason for a man to stick around when government steps in as the Father.

According to an article on DeseretNews.com, a third of children in the United States grow up in fatherless homes. And, in the past 50 years the percentage of children who live with two married parents has dropped 22 points and the number of babies born to unwed mothers jumped from five percent to 40 percent. Meanwhile, the United States has 126 anti-poverty programs in place. And according to the U.S. Census Bureau, children in father-absent homes are five times more likely to be poor.

Eutrophic means “well-nourished.” And, Americans are certainly well nourished. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the masses, the body of water that is the United States is slowly becoming uninhabitable because of the bloom of government.

If you want your life to count for Christ then never, never, never stop developing an intimate loving relationship with your spouse and spending time with your kids. ~ Josh McDowell

If you want to live in poverty then never, never, never stop developing an intimate loving relationship with your government.